Italian discounter Eurospin is planning to expand to Croatia, where it is likely to open 20 stores, taking up around 3% of grocery market share in the country, reports Poslovni Dnevnik.

Job announcements have already been made and training is expected to take place in Italy and Slovenia – the two countries that currently boast Eurospin outlets.

The Italian chain operates around 1,100 stores with 7,000 employees.

Absence Of Hard-Discounters

Speaking to Poslovni Dnevnik, Drago Munjiza, retail consultant and former CEO of Konzum, said that there is currently no hard discounter in Croatia and therefore there is a huge potential for Eurospin to be successful in that market.

According to Munjiza, the local retail market is worth HRK 38 billion (€5.1 billion) annually and discounters could take up to 3-4%.

In his opinion, Eurospin is not likely to create any major disruptions on the Croatian market because its foreign ambitions are limited.

However, things could change with the potential arrival of Penny Market, a part of Germany’s Rewe group, according to the report.

Price Conscious Consumers

The Croatian Employers’ Association (HUP) believes that there are market opportunities for new discounters as Croatian consumers are very price conscious.

In addition, the HUP has pointed out that the overwhelming concentration of the retail trade indicates that business is affecting profitability, and the saturation of the retail trade in Europe may also lead to a slowdown in Croatia.

On a positive note, the retail market in Croatia has been recovering since 2015, with both GDP and household consumption showing a positive trend.

Italian discount retailer Eurospin has achieved its target of opening 50 new stores in 2017.

CEO Romano Mion told Il Sole 24 Ore that this year’s growth has been above what was anticipated, and added that the company’s priority will continue to be the opening of new stores that are owned, directly managed, or run by partners.

Regarding possible expansions, he said that Europe is preferable to the US, mainly for logistical reasons, but did not reveal any more details.

Business Strategy

The business strategy of Eurospin is to deploy the same store formats and product assortments (including around 2,000 references), in a similar manner to German discounters Aldi and Lidl.

Each new store is set to break even within the first year, with sales offsetting the cost of land and the construction of the supermarket.

Eurospin is controlled by Migross, Shop, Dao Cooperativa and Vega. It currently operates over 1,100 stores, including more than 60 in Slovenia.

The retailer ended 2016 with a turnover of €4.7 billion (+6.8%), and is targeting €5 billion for 2017. The company has a market share in Italy of around 7%.

Italian discount retailer Eurospin has achieved its target of opening 50 new stores in 2017.

CEO Romano Mion told Il Sole 24 Ore that this year’s growth has been above what was anticipated, and added that the company’s priority will continue to be the opening of new stores that are owned, directly managed, or run by partners.

Regarding possible expansions, he said that Europe is preferable to the US, mainly for logistical reasons, but did not reveal any more details.

Business Strategy

The business strategy of Eurospin is to deploy the same store formats and product assortments (including around 2,000 references), in a similar manner to German discounters Aldi and Lidl.

Each new store is set to break even within the first year, with sales offsetting the cost of land and the construction of the supermarket.

Eurospin is controlled by Migross, Shop, Dao Cooperativa and Vega. It currently operates over 1,100 stores, including more than 60 in Slovenia.

The retailer ended 2016 with a turnover of €4.7 billion (+6.8%), and is targeting €5 billion for 2017. The company has a market share in Italy of around 7%.

Italian discount retailer Eurospin has achieved its target of opening 50 new stores in 2017.

CEO Romano Mion told Il Sole 24 Ore that this year’s growth has been above what was anticipated, and added that the company’s priority will continue to be the opening of new stores that are owned, directly managed, or run by partners.

Regarding possible expansions, he said that Europe is preferable to the US, mainly for logistical reasons, but did not reveal any more details.

Business Strategy

The business strategy of Eurospin is to deploy the same store formats and product assortments (including around 2,000 references), in a similar manner to German discounters Aldi and Lidl.

Each new store is set to break even within the first year, with sales offsetting the cost of land and the construction of the supermarket.

Eurospin is controlled by Migross, Shop, Dao Cooperativa and Vega. It currently operates over 1,100 stores, including more than 60 in Slovenia.

The retailer ended 2016 with a turnover of €4.7 billion (+6.8%), and is targeting €5 billion for 2017. The company has a market share in Italy of around 7%.

Italian discount retailer Eurospin has achieved its target of opening 50 new stores in 2017.

CEO Romano Mion told Il Sole 24 Ore that this year’s growth has been above what was anticipated, and added that the company’s priority will continue to be the opening of new stores that are owned, directly managed, or run by partners.

Regarding possible expansions, he said that Europe is preferable to the US, mainly for logistical reasons, but did not reveal any more details.

Business Strategy

The business strategy of Eurospin is to deploy the same store formats and product assortments (including around 2,000 references), in a similar manner to German discounters Aldi and Lidl.

Each new store is set to break even within the first year, with sales offsetting the cost of land and the construction of the supermarket.

Eurospin is controlled by Migross, Shop, Dao Cooperativa and Vega. It currently operates over 1,100 stores, including more than 60 in Slovenia.

The retailer ended 2016 with a turnover of €4.7 billion (+6.8%), and is targeting €5 billion for 2017. The company has a market share in Italy of around 7%.

The American fast food chain Burger King is taking aim at the Italian market, planning an investment of €340 million to open 373 new restaurants in five years.

After years of moderated growth, the American giant has found the right financial means in order to make the leap in markets where it does not play a leading role. Last year it created a joint venture called BK SEE (Burger King South Europe East) to fund its European expansion.

The target countries are Italy, Poland, Romania, and Greece. Burger King is the second biggest fast-food chain in the world, with 14,000 restaurants in 100 countries. In Italy, it aims to reach 500 sales points with direct employment of 5,000 workers and just as many indirect hires.

“Until now in Italy, development has proceeded slowly because the leadership of the direct management of the brand was missing,” said Joaquìn Salvo Puebla, general manager of BK restaurants Italia. “With the inauguration of the restaurant in San Martino Siccomario (Pavia, Ed.) we opened the first restaurant under direct management, which will be the most common format for the next five years.”

Eating out has been affected by the crisis: according to the food service research group NPD, spending has fallen by €2 billion euros over three years: dropping by 2.4% to €60.5 billion in 2013 and by 2% to €59.25 billion in 2014.

Fast food chains, however, have suddenly decided to accelerate development in Italy or to begin market penetration.

McDonald’s, which is struggling in the US and throughout the world, considers Italy one of the strategic markets, aiming to increase their presence from 512 restaurants to 800; the American Kentucky Fried Chicken just opened 2 restaurants in Rome and Turin and is signing the lease for a restaurant in Milan; in the province of Varese, the American luxury fast food chain Fuddruckers opened two locations; the Italian chains Roadhouse grill and Old wild west (with distinctive table service) open new restaurants at the rate of 15-20 a year.

In Italy, the 127 Burger King restaurants turnover between €1 and €1.5 million each, and employ 2,500 workers.

“We have an aggressive development strategy,” admits Puebla, “but it proceeds step by step: in the next three-year period we will double our commercial network.”

The success of McDonald’s in Italy (though after struggling for years) was also helped by the “Italianization” of the menu.

Will Burger King follow in its footsteps?

“Our strengths,” responds Puebla, “are grilled meat and the preparation of our food in real time. Even Burger King offers sandwiches with parmigiano reggiano or Philadelphia cream cheese, but we will increase the presence of Italian products.”

Burger King’s development will be focused on the North Central Italy.

“In the South, we will focus on franchising,” said Massimo Barbieri, Bksee director of development and ex-franchising director of McDonald’s Italia.

The capital for aspiring franchise entrepreneurs is “40% of the €800-900,000 needed to start a restaurant,” he said.